Queen's Plate Preview: Breaking down the contenders

How to Watch:
Post Time: 5:38 p.m. Es
Where: Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, Ontario
TV: Canada: TSN 4:30-6:00 p.m. ET

On Sunday, the 158th running of the $1-million Queen’s Plate - the oldest horse race in North America - takes place at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. Much like this year's Kentucky Derby, the Queen's Plate field of 13 Canadian-bred 3-year-olds is wide open and diverse, with no overwhelming favorite leading the pack. What's distinct in this rendition from its American counterpart is that two fillies, Holy Helena and Inflexibility, are among the top contenders.

"It's obviously the greatest day in Canadian racing," said Sam-Son Farm owner Rick Balaz. "It never gets old." The famed Sam-Son Farm will try and win its sixth Plate this year with Malibu Secret (20-1).

The field also features Canada's reigning champion, 2-year-old King and His Court (6-1), Kentucky Derby runner State of Honor (8-1), and a colt named Vaughan, who has never won a race. One of the biggest questions for all the horses, with the exception of State of Honor (8-1), is whether they can stay the mile-and-a-quarter distance - being that it's further than they have run before.

(The Kentucky Derby is the same distance, but after taking the lead in the early stages of the race, State of Honor struggled home, finishing 19th of 20 horses.)

Holy Helena is the 3-1 choice for the Plate after winning the Woodbine Oaks three weeks ago. She is a little less experienced than many of her rivals, coming into the big event with just three career races. Though, she's impressed in every start.

Mike Doyle, racing manager for Holy Helena's owner and breeder, Stronach Stables, said the race is "right up her alley," in terms of class and distance. However, her New York-based trainer Jimmy Jerkens is somewhat apprehensive about her inside No. 3 post position.

"I'd rather be further out," he said.

Holy Helena's jockey Luis Contreras won the Plate on the filly Inglorious in 2011.

Inflexibility (10-1), the other filly, is owned and trained by the same connections of this year's Preakness winner, Cloud Computing. Inflexibility ran into traffic trouble and finished third in the Oaks behind Holy Helena. Her trainer Chad Brown and her owners Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence are hoping - with the rider switch from Joel Rosario to Javier Castellano and the bit of extra seasoning she gained from her last race - that she'll be able to turn the tables on Holy Helena on Sunday.

"She was an unlucky third and she's still lightly raced, but I think she has Grade 1 quality," said Brown of Inflexibility, who has had his eye on a Plate run with the horse since last year.

Historically, fillies have favored well in the race: In the 157 times the Plate has been run, 35 have been victorious. One of the factors that makes Holy Helena the favorite for Sunday is that her Oaks winning time (1:50.18) was faster than Guy Caballero's Plate Trial Stakes winning time (1:51.32) at the same distance.

Guy Caballero's owner Sean Fitzhenry is unfazed by that.

"Time doesn't matter, it's that you win," he said.

Belmont Stakes-winning jockey Jose Ortiz will fly into town to ride Guy Caballero (10-1).

There's a lot of buzz around Woodbine for Aurora Way (6-1), who comes into the Plate after winning his one and only career start. Julien Leparoux, who piloted Sir Dudley Digges to win the Plate last year, has been named to ride. The French-born, United States-based jockey will have to navigate a good trip for the gelding from the 11th gate. While Aurora Way's lack of experience is his biggest obstacle, his trainer, Stuart Simon is hopeful that won't matter much on Sunday.

"What this horse lacks in races, he's made up for in training, in terms of seasoning," he said.

"He's fit enough to run to the Rockies and back."

And perhaps the most intriguing entrant in the race is the maiden Vaughan. He has never won a race, and in fact, has lost both his two starts by a combined 14.5 lengths. His morning-line odds are 50-1, but expect them to go much higher closer to post time. Should he win, he'll become the first horse to win the Plate without ever having won before since Scatter the Gold in 2000.

Trainer John Mattine knows he's asking a lot of this colt, but horses only get one shot to run in the Queen's Plate.

"One of the reasons we bought this horse was to try and get him to the Queen's Plate,” said Mattine, who purchased the horse for RCC Racing for a modest $17,000 U.S. "By all accounts he's feeling great, so we'll take a chance."